“Cabbage and Potatoes.- Chop cold boiled cabbage and potatoes quite fine; put them together, season with butter, pepper and salt, add a very little vinegar to hopt water, to moisten without making it wet, put it into a stew-pan over the firs, stir it well, that is may be thoroughly heated, but not burn; then take it into a dish, and serve for breakfast, or with cold boiled salt meat for dinner.”

Thomas MacDonagh was executed in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising. He was also a poet and teacher, publishing a book of poems in 1902 entitled Through the Ivory Gate. Quite a life. Shot at the age of 38, he was the 3rd signatory of the Proclamation to be shot. It is said that as he was taken from his cell to be executed he whistled. His widow, Muriel, died of heart failure while swimming in Skerries, County Dublin on 9 July 1917. She became angry at the sight of British flags on the beech and swam with an Irish flag to plant it on a small island. Muriel is a whole story worth telling. Look out for the article.

German POW’s in Templemore, Co. Tipperary during World War 1. Nearly 2,000 German prisoners of war were based in Templemore in what is now the Garda College. Few records remain, but they were allowed to march from the barracks to the church on a Sunday for mass, singing and apparently very happy. They were well treated and got on very well with the locals. It was good for the local economy as well as supplies were needed and the prisoners could even buy cigarettes on the way to church.

Image of POW Camp at Templemore Barracks in Co Tipperary, 1914/15
Photograph courtesy of John Reynolds / An Garda Síochána